If you live in the New York metro region you probably know about Rao’s – And you’ve probably never been there.
If you do not know about Rao’s, it is a small iconic restaurant located in the East Harlem section of New York City. It serves mostly Italian fare and no doubt of the highest quality. Admittedly I have no first-hand dining experiences from which to draw that conclusion – and I never will – but the place has been in operation, in the same spot, for over 120 years. They must be doing something right.
You see, Rao’s serves an elite clientele. Famous people. Wealthy people. Politicians. Poets. A no-name schlock like me wouldn’t even be allowed to peek in the windows much less eat there.
Fortunately, Rao’s puts out a line of their culinary delights in supermarkets. Unfortunately, these products are often much more expensive than just about any other brand. One such delight, and the subject of today’s recipe, is Rao’s famous roasted peppers which they make with the delicate and very pricey pine nuts* along with sweet golden raisins. Here in the stew we substitute slivered almonds in place of the pine nuts which not only cuts down on cost but also imparts a nice crunch and a sweetness that is similar to pine nuts.
Like the Rao’s recipe, our recipe calls for golden raisins but if you only have the regular dark raisins on hand it’s fine to use them and it will taste just as good.
You can serve this as a side dish to just about anything, or better yet, simply slopped over some good quality bread.
Need This
4 large bell peppers (preferably of different colors)
1 large clove of garlic – peeled and sliced in half
Scant 1/4 cup of olive oil
2 tablespoons of slivered almonds
3 tablespoons of golden raisins
Italian flat leaf parsley (optional)
Do This
First, this recipe requires you to play with fire (literally) and we don’t want you burning down your house, so turn off that damn cell phone. And go put it away somewhere so that you can’t see it. You cannot allow yourself to be distracted during the roasting process.
Rinse the peppers under clean cold water then dry them with a paper towel.
Place each pepper directly onto the stovetop burner racks.**
Light each of the burners to a medium flame.
Get out a pair of tongs (I said tongs not thongs!)
Roast the peppers over the open flames turning frequently with the tongs until they are pretty much blackened all around (see photo below).
Remove the peppers from the flames and immediately put them into a paper bag. Crimp the top of the paper bag closed and let the peppers steam out in there for 10 – 15 minutes.
Remove the peppers from the bag. Rub the outside of the peppers with a paper towel removing most of the blackened skin (you can leave a little on for effect if you want).
Slice the peppers in half. Carefully pull out and discard the stems and as many seeds as you can, then throw the peppers into a colander. Let the peppers sit in the colander for at least 1 hour.
Rub the inside of a large bowl vigorously with the two cloves of garlic – cut side down. Discard the garlic.
Remove the peppers from the colander. Slice them up nice into strips and throw them into the bowl.
Dump the slivered almonds into a small non-stick fry pan and put a medium heat under it. Toast the almonds until you just start to smell them (about 1 minute) – then quickly remove them from the heat.
Now add the olive oil, toasted almonds and raisins to the roasted peppers.
Mixy, Mixy, Mixy, Mixy.
Refrigerate for 1 hour. Let the peppers come back to room temperature before serving. Snip a little parsley over the top – if using. Serve at room temp.
Serves 4. My Cost approx. $ 3.40 total – about 85 cents per serving.
*Pine nuts are not actually nuts… they’re seeds. GMN
**If you do not have a gas range, you can roast the peppers over a charcoal grill or else under a
broiler. GMN
